Micro-machining and micro-electromechanics (MEMS) technologies have been advancing steadily. These technologies use semiconductor processing techniques to form electrical and mechanical structures in a substrate, particularly in silicon. By using known silicon etch techniques, devices having varying profiles can be formed in a silicon-containing substrate, and then released, as by overetching, to remove the devices from the underlying silicon or silicon oxide. As examples, an anisotropic etch can be carried out to form an opening with straight, parallel sidewalls; or with straight tapered sidewalls, tapered outwardly or inwardly; or an isotropic etch can be carried out which changes the geometry or which can lift up and separate the feature from the substrate. When very small features are to be made, the etch processes must be carefully controlled, particularly for re-entrant profiles.
Further, the sidewalls of the etched openings must be protected from further etching if the shape of the opening is to be changed sequentially, as, when an anisotropic etch is to be followed with an isotropic etch.
It would be highly desirable to be able to carry out different sequential etch steps in situ, in a single reaction chamber, that changes the profile of the formed features while protecting the already etched openings from additional etching.